Peters



,(Nd Model.)

Patented Dec. 3

KAAAAMA A A A A A A A A A A A A A mv PETENS. FMlO-Lilllogmpher.Washinglnn. D. c.

:UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.MICHAEL N. LAUFENBURG, OF STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO THESTOCKTON COMBINED I-IARVESTER AND AGRICULTURAL JVORKS, OF

SAME PLACE.

GRAIN SEPARATOR AND CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 416,464, dated December3, 18 89.

Application filed March 15, 1888. Serial No. 267,276- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I; MicnAEL N. LAUFEN- BURG, of Stockton, San Joaquincounty, State of California, have invented an Improvement v in a GrainSeparator and Cleaner; and I hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to an apparatus for more perfectly separating andcleaning grain;

and it consists in the constructions and coinbinations of devices whichI shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for amore complete explanation ofmy invention, Figure 1 'is a longitudinal vertical section of the rearend of the thrasher and separator, showing this cleaning mechanism. Fig.2 is a perspective view of the shoe.

My invention is intended to separate from the grain as much as possibleof the straw and lighter chaff, so as to reduce the work of thesupplemental cleaner; 5

A is a carrier-belt upon which the straw and grain are delivered fromthethrashing- 2 5 cylinder and by which they are brought up -to a pointwhere the grain falls from the up- T per end of the carrier-belt, and isdirected by the curved board B, so that it falls upon the inclinedtable-O, from the' lower rear edge of goiwhich it is delivered throughthe projecting wire fingers D upon the screen E. 'lhereceiving-tableO isdivided by vertical triangular partitions F into channelsof greater orless width, and the object of this division is to 3 5 prevent the grainafter falling upon the table from sliding to one side or the other whenthe machine stands or travels upon inclined ground, and this insures thegrain being distrib uted pretty evenly over the screen E when 40 itfalls upon it. The projecting wire fingers D serve to hold up the chaffand short straw which may fall with the grain, so as to give the grain achance to fall first upon the screen, and also to enable the blast ofair from the fan G to act upon this chaff and carry it toward the rearend of the shoe, where it is again lifted and directed outward by thewire fingers II, the object being to keep this light chaff and shortstraw as high as possible and allow the grain to fall upon the screen byits greater weight, where it can be acted upon by the air-blast frombelow, and while the heads and coarser waste matter pass ofi from thescreen E the grain, mixed with cats, barley, and small impurities, willfall through the screen. Any heads which may be contained in the grainwill pass oft-the rear of the screen E, through the fingers H, and fallinto the conveying auger-spout I, by which they are delivered into areturn elevator, which carries them back to the thrashingc'ylinder inthe usual manner, and the chaii' will beblown out over the rear end,this being the ordinary construction for thrashingmachines. 1

After the grain has fallen through the screen E it may still carry withit some chaff, strawjoints, and light material, which it is desirable toseparate, so as not to burden the final cleaner with too much of thiswork. I therefore fix a series of backwardly-inclined leaves or-shuttersJ beneath the screen E, the general direction of the frame in whichthese leaves are fixed being upward and backward. 1 Beneath these leavesor shutters is a sort of hopper having the inclined bottoms K, whichconverge toward the auger-spout L, the incline being sufficient so thatthe grain falling 'upon it will at once'slidedown'into the augerspout,and from this point the auger conveys the grain to one side and deliversit to an elevator, by which it is carried to a supplemental cleaner.

By the use of the frame of inclined leaves or shutters J thelight'material which maypass through the screen E will be prevented fromdropping directly into the carrying-auger L, where it would have atendency to clog the work, and the blast of air which is delivered jdirectly through the spouts between the screen E and the leaves orshutters J will carry this light material out from the rear end, whereit will either fall into the auger-spout I or be carried entirely out ofthe rear of the machine, there being a sufficient space between the rearend of the screen E and the rear end of the shutter-frame for thispurpose. The shutters also give a wavy or ruffled movement to the air,which gradually checks its motions where it passes over the shutters, sothat 100 the strong blast which first enters below the screen E isdecreased toward the rear, and so moderated as not to blow grain over.The angle of the shutters may be adjusted to suit the work and thestrength of the blast, and will give the latter a gradually-decreasingforce.

The straw which is brought up bythe carrier A along with the grain islifted and separated from the grain by the revolving picker M in theusual manner, and it falls upon the straw-carrying belt N, which iscomposed of open slats, that carry the straw backward, discharging it atthe rear of the machine in the manner usual to this class of machines.Beneath the return or lower portion of this belt is the closed inclinedbottom 0, which is designed to receive any grain which, being ontangledwith the straw, has been carried backward upon the straw-carrier, and itwill fall through while the straw is passing over the length of thiscarrier. This inclined bottom and the dragging of the carrier-slats overit bring such grain back and deliver it upon the front end of the screenE. Beneath the upper and ontwardly-traveling part of the straw-carrierbelt N, I have fixed a frame having upwardly and backwardly inclinedshutters P,which are constructed similarly -to the shutters J, thepurpose being to prevent the straw, which generally drops with the endsdown, from readily falling from the upper part of the belt, and beingdragged back and eventually clogging the carrier with straw, weeds, &c.,which roll up together and form masses or bunches.

The design of this whole apparatus is to edect a preliminary and roughcleaning, so that the grain will be delivered to the supplementalcleaner with as little as possible of the worthless chaff, and thecleaner will thus be relieved of a great deal of its work. It alsoseparates thegrain more perfectly from thestraw, and"prevents its beingcarried over with the straw and lost, at the same timepreventing thestraw from falling through and choking the return carrier or screen.

The shoe in which the screen E is fixed extends forward beneath thecarrier-belt A, and the table 0 is fixed to it so as to be oscillatedwith the shoe. The rear end of the shoe is connected with a crank Q, andthe shaft of thiscrank has a pulley upon one end, which is driven by abelt from anyone of the rotating shafts of the machine which may beconvenient for the purpose. The motion of this crank gives the rear endof the shoe a rising and falling circular motion of considerablerapidity, the tendency of which is to lift everything upon its surface,and gives it an upwardly as well as a horizontally shaking motion. Ithas been customary in this class of end-shake shoes or screens tosuspend the front or receiving end of the shoe by hangers from above,and the motion of this end of the shoe is then made backward and forward011 a concave or downwardly-moving are. In my invention I support thereceiving end of the shoe upon elastic arms R, the upper ends of whichare connected with the shoe by pins, while the lower ends are secured tothe sides of the machine by bolts or other means. These arms are usuallymade of wood, and the central portion is thin enough to allow them tobend backward and forward with the motion given to the shoe by the crankQ, and, as they are fastened below, the upper ends describe an are whichis convex upwardly, thus lifting the receiving end of the shoe slightly,which action being similar to that of the rear end of the shoe, althoughin a much smaller degree, is more favorable to thezproper separation ofthe grain from the chaif than when thisend is suspended from above.

It will be manifest that the table C'maybe made separate from the shoe,and may have an independent shaking motion, or it may be stationary; butin either case the channels formed on its surface by the verticalpartitions are indispensable to the performance of good work uponinclinedor-rolling-ground, as they prevent the sieves from bei 11goverloaded upon one side and running empty on the other. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

Agrain-cleaner consisting of a shoe with a separating-screen fi-xedtherein, and a'mechanism whereby a shaking movement of the shoe isproduced, a fan with guides,-whereby the blast is directed above,beneath, and through the screen, in combination with a rack composed oftransverse backwardly-inclining shutters fixed below the line of blastand forming the bottom of the air-passage, so that the blast willimpinge upon the upper edges of the rack, substantially as hereindescribed. In witness whereof I havehereunto set-my hand.

MICHAEL N. LAUFENHURG. Witnesses:

Geo. H. STRONG, II. NoURsE.

